Author Archives: energyskeptic

Kurt Cobb on the true definition of corruption

Posted on October 31, 2016 by

Kurt Cobb. April 10, 2016. Corruption, resources, climate and systemic risk.  resourceinsights.com Corruption is a loaded word. One person’s corruption is another’s sound social policy. Some people believe providing unemployment benefits to laid-off workers corrupts them by making them “lazy.” … Continue reading →

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When will the corrupt financial system cause another financial collapse?

Posted on October 29, 2016 by

[ Conventional oil production peaked in 2005-6, so if a financial crash occurs, the net energy cliff will be much steeper on the other side, since new projects won’t get financed, and unconventional oil is very expensive to produce and … Continue reading →

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Pensions face bankruptcy in the future

Posted on October 28, 2016 by

2016-4-10. US faces disastrous $3.4 trillion pension funding hole. Collective deficit of retirement plans is three times larger than official figures. Financial Times. The US public pension system has developed a $3.4 trillion funding hole that will pile pressure on … Continue reading →

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Family Planning – A Special and Urgent Concern by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Posted on October 25, 2016 by

[ Below are excerpts from this May 5, 1966 speech by Martin Luther King Jr. after he was awarded the Margaret Sanger Award by Planned Parenthood ] Recently, the press has been filled with reports of sightings of flying saucers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Population | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Why economic corruption or an oil decline will lead to a financial crash, depression, and permanent energy crisis

Posted on October 23, 2016 by

This is the introduction to the Corruption category under the Menu item 3) Fast Crash. The posts in this category show that another, much worse crash, is inevitable.  Meanwhile, low oil prices have led to less oil production and discoveries.  … Continue reading →

Posted in ! About Corruption | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Are humans an invasive species?

Posted on October 22, 2016 by

Rob Jordan. April 5, 2016. Populations of early human settlers grew like an ‘invasive species,’ Stanford researchers find. Stanford University. When humans colonized South America, their populations grew like a typical invasive species – an initial explosive growth rapidly reached … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion, Peak Food | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The phony in American politics: how voters turn into suckers

Posted on October 18, 2016 by

[ This article skewers many politicians, but my favorite part is what I’ve excerpted below, about one of the first political candidates in the 1930s who ran as a Christian to snag those voters for the big money interests, Texas’s richest oilmen … Continue reading →

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Fruit and nut crops decline as climate change melts fog

Posted on October 16, 2016 by

Fimrite, P. May 22, 2014. As Central Valley fog disappears, fruit, nut crops decline. San Francisco Chronicle. California produces 95% of U.S. fruit and nut crops that depend on disappearing Tule fog. The soupy thick tule fog that regularly blanketed … Continue reading →

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Why is passenger rail so damned inefficient?

Posted on October 10, 2016 by

[ This is about passenger rail, not freight rail, which is incredibly efficient. Freight rail is efficient because to reduce aerodynamic drag and diesel fuel use (USDOT 2008), they travel on average  only 23 miles per hour (to reduce aerodynamic … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass Transit, Railroads, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The 1% have always been with us – even hunter gatherers had inequality

Posted on October 7, 2016 by

Pringle, H. May 23, 2014. The ancient roots of the 1%. Science 344: 822-825. Don’t blame farming. Inequality got its start among resource-rich hunter-gatherers. In 79 C.E., the year Mount Vesuvius destroyed it, Pompeii was not one city but two. … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of Wealth | Tagged , | 3 Comments